SEC clears Holloway to play this season | Ole Miss Sports

The SEC cleared Murphy Holloway this evening in time to avoid answering the rush of questions about his status at SEC Basketball Media Day tomorrow. This is huge news for Ole Miss. The Rebels got a lot better with this announcement.

– PA

From media relations

OXFORD – Junior forward Murphy Holloway has been declared immediately eligible to compete with the Ole Miss basketball team in 2011-12 following transfer rule waivers being accepted by the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference.

The NCAA granted Holloway immediate eligibility on Oct. 14, the first official day of basketball practice. On Wednesday, the SEC office also accepted a waiver of the year-in residence requirement for transfers.

Holloway spent the first two years of his college career at Ole Miss. The Irmo, S.C., native transferred to the University of South Carolina for family reasons in 2010 and sat out the 2010-11 season per NCAA transfer rules, earning a redshirt. He returned to his original school this June after his family situation had been resolved.

The waiver application of NCAA and SEC transfer rules had to be accepted in order for him to avoid sitting out the upcoming season with the Rebels.

“We are very excited that Murphy will be able to compete for Ole Miss this year,” Rebel head coach Andy Kennedy said. “We believed throughout this process that the NCAA and SEC would want to do what was in the best of the student-athlete. I’m grateful to the league office for their understanding of the situation, and I am very appreciative of all the hard work put in by our compliance department, spearheaded by Matt Ball and Julie Owen.”

Holloway was a two-year starter at Ole Miss in 2008-09 and 2009-10, leading the Rebels in rebounding and steals both years. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound forward started 30 of 34 games for the Rebels as a sophomore, averaging 10.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest and ranking fifth in the SEC in rebounding and eighth in steals. He finished sixth among league players with eight double-doubles that year.